August 16th Nohmi v Kiya - Arai wins the game

Nishioka returned to the Tigers lineup this game and obviously helped to restore spirits. Suddenly Arai came alive and he was responsible for all Tigers runs winning the game in the ninth. Tigers are still not happy at Kyocera Dome but Swallows are so under the Osaka outfit's paw that they can't muster more than nominal resistance. It was a nice game to win but even so was a hard ground out affair and the Tigers didn't find it easy to overcome the Swallows. Scores

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  R H E
Swallows  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1 6 1
Tigers    0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1x 2 6 0

Starting Lineups

Swallows
1. Hiyane (Left)
2. Ueda (Centre)
3. Kawabata (Third)
4. Balentien (Right)
5. Hatakeyama (First)
6. Yamada (Second)
7. Aikawa (Catcher)
8. Kawashima (Short)
9. Kiya (Pitcher)

Tigers
1. Nishioka (Second)
2. Yamato (Centre)
3. Toritani (Short)
4. Murton (Left)
5. Takahiro Arai (First)
6. Fukudome (Right)
7. Saka (Third)
8. Fujii (Catcher)
9. Nohmi (Pitcher)

Nohmi wasn't exactly on top form and would suffer from over pitching but held things well and once again showed himself to be a class pitcher. He started the Swallows first with a one out single to Ueda who went left. Kawabata then hit into a double play ending the chance before it even got started. Tigers were facing an unfamiliar pitcher and did their usual act by freezing. No one reached base in their first. Swallows were in fact the first to get on the board - Balentien led off their second with a big blast to left for a solo home run 1-0 Swallows. This seemed to wake Nohmi up and he retired the next three batters in order. Tigers second was also quiet and one had that sinking feeling of under-performance looming. With Nohmi now pitching smoothly though, the Swallows were having trouble as well and no one got on base in the third. Tigers third was the same and as often is the case with an unfamiliar pitcher Tigers had gone through three innings without a base runner. This really is something that needs to be addressed. It happens too often for comfort.

The first two outs in Swallows fourth were Ueda and Kawabata who both grounded out. Next up was Balentien for his second at bat in which he doubled left. Hatakeyama couldn't do anything do and hit his first pitch to Saka at third for the final out. Tigers fourth was quiet again as Kiya went through the top of the order for the second time. Swallows attacked again in their fifth. Yamada doubled to left centre - a nice swing. Nohmi panicked and walked Aikawa - runners on first and second with no outs. Then Kawashima hit back to Nohmi who was able to turn and throw to second for the double play. Yamada meanwhile had taken third so the threat wasn't over yet. However, the final batter was Kiya who did as expected and got out - no score there. Murton led Tigers fifth off and struck out swinging. Next was Arai who got hold of a loose pitch and incidentally produced Tigers first hit of the game. This was a big home run to left 1-1 scores tied. Fukudome struck out and Saka grounded out but Tigers were back in the game. Nohmi's control was going though - he managed OK in Swallows sixth but with one out he did walk Ueda. Another Kawabata double play saw that chance ended. With two out in Tigers sixth Nishioka singled left but Yamato couldn't do anything and the innings was scoreless.

Nohmi did well in Swallows seventh but once again with two outs he did walk a player, this being Yamada. Aikawa hit to second where some nice fielding by Nishioka got the final out. Tigers seventh was over quickly. Toritani led off with a single which didn't amount to anything as Murton hit into a double play. Then Arai grounded out to third to end the innings. Wada being his usual self insisted on Nohmi pitching Swallows eighth. This was almost a disaster as the tired pitcher struggled to deliver. Kawashima grounded out but then Tanaka (pinch hitter) hit his first pitch to right. Hiyane walked - runners on first and second. Ueda grounded out moving the runners round to second and third with two outs. Then Nohmi walked Kawabata to load the bases. Wada panicked which was probably the best decision he could have made and replaced Nohmi with Andoh. He should have made the move at the beginning of the eighth though. Balentien worked the count full but struck out swinging and Tigers had escaped. Luck was with them. Ishiyama pitched Tigers eighth and with two out gave up a single to Fujii. The next batter was Imanari (pinch hitter) who flew out to end the innings. Fukuhara pitched Swallows ninth - definitely a good use of your star closer. With one out Yamada singled and then Aikawa grounded out to Fukuhara moving Yamada to second. Kawashima walked - runners on first and second with the next batter a face from the past - Miyamoto (pinch hitter). He hit straight to Toritani at short to end the innings. Barnette took over for Tigers ninth and was less than impressive to say the least. Nishioka hit his first pitch to Kawashima who was able to field but couldn't get the throw way. Then Yamato hit left - runners on first and second. Toritani to the surprise of everyone laid down a bunt to move the runners round. Barnette fielded but his throw was poor and missed first - Toritani was safe and the bases were loaded with no outs. All Tigers needed was a sacrifice fly and Barnette was nervous and vulnerable. The first to try was Murton who hit deep into centre. This was taken but was not far enough and the runners stayed on base. One life down and the next batter was the last chance for the fly - Arai. With a home run already to his credit Arai's hit to centre was deep enough for Nishioka to touch up and make home safely 2-1 Tigers, sayonara victory.

Tigers had done well to take this game having generated very little in the way of threats. Swallows hadn't had the belief necessary to win and even though Tigers had struggled to put runners on they had come through courtesy of the coolness and experience of Arai though this was his first ever sacrifice sayonara fly. Once again Wada had tried to take his pitcher too far though Tigers had managed to avoid the damage caused by this piece of managerial incompetence which is all to frequent. A very vital win.